Group standings begin to take shape

Cesc Fabregas hailed Spain's strength in depth after helping the European champions clinch their spot in next year's World Cup finals. Fabregas netted his side's opening goal in their 3-0 win over Estonia on Wednesday, Spain's eighth successive victory in Group Five. "This team is incredible. Not only those that are on the bench, but there are also the players who couldn't make the game and who didn't make the squad despite enjoying the confidence of the coach," he said.

"There isn't space enough for everyone. What's clear is that there is a lot of quality in Spanish football right now. It's a luxury." Russia beat Wales 3-1 to maintain the pressure on Germany at the top of Europe's Group Four. James Collins cancelled out Igor Semshov's opener before Sergei Ignashevich restored Russia's lead and Roman Pavlyuchenko sealed the points in stoppage time to stay within a point of Germany with two games remaining.

Germany, who Russia host in Moscow next month, routed Azerbaijan 4-0. "We knew Germany were winning and we have now got the right result to go into our showdown for top spot in October with great confidence," the Russia coach Guus Hiddink said. Italy took a giant step towards qualification by beating Bulgaria 2-0 in Turin. Fabio Grosso opened the scoring in the 11th minute in the Group Eight match before Vincenzo Iaquinta doubled the Azzurri's lead shortly before half-time.

Portugal boosted their precarious hopes of qualifying for the finals with a 1-0 victory over Hungary in Budapest. Carlos Queiroz's team moved on to 13 points in Group One and leapfrogged their hosts into third spot. Serbia edged a step closer to qualification for the finals as the Group Seven leaders held nearest challengers France to a 1-1 draw in Belgrade. Thierry Henry's effort after cancelled out Nenad Milijas' 13th-minute penalty opener.

Norway clinched second place in World Cup qualifying Group Nine after a dominant 2-1 victory over Macedonia at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo. Thorstein Helstad and John Arne Riise scored the goals which saw Egil Olsen's side claim the runners-up spot behind Holland in the standings at the expense of both the visitors and Scotland, who were defeated 1-0 by Holland. Poland sacked Leo Beenhakker as coach after the side's 3-0 loss to Slovenia that cost Poland a place in the finals.

* With agencies